When I signed onto my Facebook a couple days ago I was greeted with the devastating news that a young girl my age, Aimee Powell, had passed away in a tragic car accident.

I didn’t know Aimee, but I have some friends who knew her very well. Amy was 25 years old and a teacher at a Christian school in Charlotte, NC. I had seen photos pop up of her on facebook through mutual friends over the past couple years and always thought she was the sweetest looking girl (in the pic above she is the girl on the far right – dear Elizabeth Clemmer in the middle). She’s one of those people that when you look at their picture – you can just tell that they have a beautiful heart.

“Aimee stands out as a beautiful person who loved the Lord, who loved kids…The Good Shepherd knew her by name. She knew his voice and now she’s in a place with no more tears. She has eternal life and that’s the most comforting thing” – Pastor Dave Kulp

I sent Grant an email telling him about Aimee and how sad and grieved I was about it even though I had never known her. Grant said, “GraceAnna, that could have been you or me. Life is so fragile.” I know his words are so true. The past few months we have had so many conversations about how short life is. I think one of the reasons we have discussed it so much is because Grant is almost the age his father was when he was taken in a plane crash.

When I read the news about Aimee, I was so reminded that living for Jesus Christ is all that matters. Getting to know Him is of upmost importance. When Grant and I were dating, one of the things I remember him telling me is how he wanted to devote his life in service of the Lord and in getting to know Him better. He also told me that he would treasure every moment that God gave him with me because life is so short. That spoke to me. “So,” he reasoned, “we should get married as soon as possible.” 🙂

God has given us each a certain number of days to live (Psalm 139:16). Aimee’s life was not cut short. God gave her 25 beautiful years of life. And I know, that she lived those for Him. To some he gives 3 x 25, but to others (like Aimee or Grant’s dad) just 25 or 26. And from what I have seen – people like Aimee have made more of a difference for Christ in 25 years than many Christians who live to be 50 or 75.

I wish there was something I could do to ease the unbearable pain that Aimee’s family (and those who knew Aimee) are going through. If you wouldn’t mind – would you say a prayer for her parents right now? They are missionaries in Taiwan and have flown back to the states to bury their precious girl.

I hesitated to write about Aimee because I know there is nothing I could ever say to do her justice or even began to commemorate who she was. I didn’t know her. But she has been on my heart. I am sad. I wish this story wasn’t true even though I know it was God’s plan for Aimee and she is so happy right now. Her words that were published in a news report say what I could never began to try and say about her (Aimee expressed these thoughts when she was going through the hiring process at Southlake Christian).

“I have had a love for children and teaching since I can remember. As a girl, I helped with summer Vacation Bible School and taught my Chinese friends English weekly. In high school, I was a teacher’s aid in kindergarten, third and fifth grades. Most of my summers during college were spent tutoring Chinese students who struggled with English. It was at that time that I saw my love for teaching children increase. Each day was a new day to model Jesus for my students, and I saw it as a ministry.”

Thank you Aimee for modeling Jesus.

This song came to mind when I thought about those grieving Aimee’s death:
I Have A Shelter

The news report:
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11857390